European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sgt. Larry Crow left staff sgt. Floyd Lewis and an unidentified third Man try out their a jeopardy skills in Mons Belgium choose 1t1c, Alexs amps David Tarran americans in Europe try out for jeopardy by David Tarrant Brussels Bureau ready eee be be go geography for $200. And it s the town where the popular television game show jeopardy is produced. Dingding Dingding. Quot what is Hollywood Quot right on right on we re hot now. Moving on to this and that for $400. Its one of the various nocturnal arboreal marsupials exclusively found in the Western hemisphere which belongs to the family of Didel philae. A anybody a a. I Punk. Of of. I did no to mean to ring. I mean in a not sure Huhm. Of Well. What is us. Wait. What is. Philadelphia Quot no. Nice try. The Correct answer is Quot what is an opossum Quot that s just about the Way it went for most of the 150 people who showed up recently at an officers club in shape nato s military Headquarters in Mons Belgium for a Chance to try out for the jeopardy game show. The idea of the game is to provide the right question when the game show Host Calls out an answer. Quot old Blue eyes Quot he might say. The first person to ring his or her Buzzer and say Quot who is Frank Sinatra Quot wins Money ranging from $100 to $1,000. And the person who has won the most at the end of the show gets to come Back the next Day and try for More. In Belgium a handful of Wise Guys were the Only ones who passed the grueling written test on general knowledge and got to go on to a mock audition of jeopardy. Its possible that if they did Well at the auditions before the end of the year one of them might get a Call from Hollywood inviting them to appear on the show hosted by television for $200. It s the popular Host of jeopardy who is on the Uso s Board of governors. Question who is Alex Trebek Trebek and several members of the jeopardy staff completed their european Talent search this week with visits to four . Military bases altogether including other stops in England West Germany and Italy. At each Stop potential contestants were Given a videotaped test of general knowledge. Those who passed the written test played a mock version of the program As part of their audition. It is Likely that jeopardy producers will choose one player from each base to play on the program a spokesman said. Players will probably be notified before the show begins taping new programs in july. This was Trebek s third tour of overseas bases. Sponsored by Northwest airlines the tour was coordinated by the United service organization and military morale and recreation officials. One of televisions most popular personalities Trebek played Down his presence on the tour. Sure he said some of the folks who showed up at the tryouts might have come just to meet him but not most people. Quot i think for most of them its simply that they want a Chance to be on the show and win a lot of  col. John eanes commander of shape s . Military Community said the jeopardy tour generated a massive amount of interest within the shape american Community of about 10,000 people including service members and their families As Well As the civilian work Force. Quot it s the most exciting thing to happen in a Long time Quot eanes said. Quot it s fun. Everybody Here can say they tried out for a to  Many of those who tried out watched the show on superstition an for weeks hoping to improve both their knowledge and quickness. Others simply believed they would summon up the answers from bits and pieces of trivia acquired Over the years. A i feel like i know a lot about a lot of things but not a whole lot about any particular thing Quot said staff sgt. Floyd Lewis 27, a shape a assistant chaplain before the afternoon test. Sitting beside Lewis sgt. Larry Crow concentrated on completing a stars and stripes crossword Puzzle hoping to acquire some last few bits of trivia. Crow had just finished taking another test for his promotion Board and figured after that grueling experience Quot this should be a  maj. Kendal Smith spent the night before the jeopardy test Reading a Book of foreign words and phrases. Quot there s probably no Way to study for this Quot he said. Quot you re really preparing for it All your . In that Case Smith commander of Headquarters come flight det which serves the shape Community prepared Well. He passed the written test and went on to do Well in the mock jeopardy audition. Smith told the jeopardy staff he had promised the members of his unit that he would take them All on a bus trip with the Money he won from the show. Of course As Smith noted that also depends on How much Money he might win. Quot instead of London we could be going to Brussels Quot about 40 minutes away from his Post at chevres a he said. Or maybe be Rouix Quot he added. That City is about four Miles from his Post. The contestant search moved to the Frankfurt playhouse in West Germany monday the site of the first overseas jeopardy visit in december 1987. Four of the 160 hopefuls there Quot made the Cut Quot using Trebek swords. One of them said he had plenty of help getting ready. Army 1st sgt. Colin Hodgen of cob 165th military intelligence in in Darmstadt West Germany said the soldiers in his unit constantly badgered him with questions after he entered the contest. Quot in a usually asking them questions Quot the bostonian said. Air Force capt. Bart Hillyer an attorney with the trial judiciary office at Rhein main a West Germany said he did nothing to prepare but Quot it helps to be widely  Mary Emanuelson from Schwabish Hall was t sure How she would spend her potential winnings. Quot i done to know whether to be an adult and pay off creditors or travel Quot she said. She vowed to discuss it with her husband chief warrant officer 4 John Emanuelson. Navy it. Cmdr. Gary Telecsan travelled from Patch Barracks in Stuttgart to reach the finals. The Cincinnati native had a simple reason for his Success. Quot i have a trivial mind Quot he said. Contributing to this report staff writer Gary Pomeroy in Frank Furt til a a jeopardy Host Alex Tonj sgt. Colin Hodgen top Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes saturday v a amps reporter Gary Pomeroy sits in the Frankfurt playhouse wondering where he went wrong. I was a 6jeopardy�?T reject by Gary Pomeroy staff writer the sly smile on my face had to be noticeable after Elise Walker of Uso Germany told me i could take the jeopardy screening test. I had told her that experiencing the jeopardy screening process was essential for a news reporter to understand the Range of emotions Felt by contestant hopefuls. The real plan was to do so Well the staff would have to select me. Then i would be Able to get some of the billions of dollars in be won but never collected for regularly trouncing the so called Competition from my living room. The frustration simmered from 1964 to 1974 with Art Fleming and Don Pardo. In the six years since Alex Trebek revived the show my passion has grown As in be waited for my Chance. It came monday along with Trebek himself at the Frankfurt playhouse in West Germany. Eighty people sat in the auditorium listening intensely to the instructions. The answers appeared on a Large television in the Middle of the stage. Each answer was read by the recorded voice of Alex himself. For example Quot this Structure is pictured on the Back of the $20  those few of us who had the right question scribbled Quot Brooklyn Bridge Quot and it did t have to be in the form of a question. But the real Laugher was the 15 seconds a lifetime Between each answer. Fifty questions separated me from my Reward. When the videotape started i stared at the first question or answer. As the second answerer question appeared i put my pen to the paper and tried to remember the first question or answer. After the third answer they started blending with each other. I scrambled to piece them together. Quot in 1871, Elvis Presley travelled to this scientific discovery at the request of  Quot this two word latin phrase was uttered by Thomas Edison at Little big  Quot after Shakespeare cancelled the Beverly Hillbillies in 1106, this hindu ritual hit nine on the Richter  jeopardy staffers collected the answerer question sheets and disappeared. Then Alex Trebek himself walked onto the stage and told us How Tough the test was. He also said about two people per group usually score High enough to be selected for the final phase a the mock jeopardy game. And then one of them might be chosen to Fly to California with All expenses paid to compete for an amount equal to the defense budget. As we waited Trebek responded to questions in the form of answers or questions. It was like torture in the form of a chamber. Quot what s it like being a game show Host Quot Quot where s Vanna Quot Quot what a the question to number 10?&Quot As my Confidence waned i asked myself a question Why did i waste so much time on this dumb show when the Price is right is clearly More intellectually stimulating finally the jeopardy staffers returned. After Trebek announced the names of the two winners he pulled me aside and assured me that i Quot missed the Cut by  then it hit me. The Brooklyn Bridge in t on the $20 Bill. It s the Alamo. The stars and stripes a a a Page 15